Historical Jesus

I) Writings of Josephus

A) There is a quote from his book, Jewish Antiquities, written near the end of the first century, “Now there was about this time Jesus, a wise man, if it be lawful to call him a man; for he was a doer of wonderful works, a teacher of such men as receive the truth with pleasure. He drew over to him both many of the Jews and many of the Gentiles. He was [the] Christ. And when Pilate, at the suggestion of the principal men amongst us, had condemned him to the cross, those that loved him at the first did not forsake him; for he appeared to them alive again the third day; as the divine prophets had foretold these and ten thousand other wonderful things concerning him. And the tribe of Christians, so named from him, are not extinct at this day.”

B) Most scholars believe that this quote has been modified by Christian writers since the time of Josephus, as there is no indication that he ever was a believer and he says nothing else about Jesus in his history of the time of Pilate. But, it is likely that he mentions Jesus (perhaps as a “troublemaker” of the time).

C) Josephus speaks of a “sedition” raised against Pilate that led to the slaughter of many Jews in the previous chapter, it might be the slaughter brought to the attention of Jesus – – it confirms the nature of Pilate

D) It might explain the animosity that existed between Pilate and Herod – , – if Pilate had killed Galileans that were under Herod’s jurisdiction

II) Romans historians

A) Tacitus was the preeminent historian of 1st century Rome, presenting much of the information we know of that period, in his writings on Nero, he writes this about the Christians in Rome, persecuted by Nero, “a great multitude”, derived their name “from one Christus, who was executed in the reign of Tiberius by the procurator of Judaea, Pontius Pilate.”

B) In this quote, he confirms the time period of Jesus, His death at the hands of Pilate, and Pilate’s existence and position (which was debated until modern times, as the position of procurator was previously unknown)

C) Suetonius, who also wrote of this time period, mentions the Jews being expelled from Rome for raising tumults in Rome at the instigation of one Chrestus (which is almost certainly a mistake in understanding or spelling the name Christus, the Latin term for Christ) –

III) Ante-Nicean writers

A) Although these men were Christians, their testimony is still valuable as they had contact with the apostles and early writings to confirm their message

IV) Islamic writings

A) There are 16 references to Jesus in the Quran, and 10 mentions of the Messiah; in addition, there are a number of references to Jesus in the Hadith (traditions of Islamic holy men)

B) There are significant, since Muslims do not accept Christianity, and have changed many narratives concerning Jesus, but they confirm His existence